There are currently over 500,000 slot machines in operation that generate more than $15 billion in annual revenue for United States casinos. Most casinos generate more than half of their gaming revenues from slot machines and some individual casinos offer two or three thousand slot machines at a single location. In fact, two different casinos in Connecticut each provide over six thousand gaming devices for players.
For players, finding a machine that they like can be very difficult. For example, a player looking for a “Full Pay Jacks or Better” video poker machine might spend half an hour or more looking for one, only to find that the casino does not have one. Such a frustrated player might then be tempted to just leave to try another casino. Even upon finding a preferred game, the player may discover that there are elements of the game that he does not like (e.g. the type font is too small, or the cards are dealt too fast).
Casinos often contain hundreds of security cameras. Most footage gathered through the cameras is of a routine nature. The footage is simply stored on tape and eventually erased without ever being used. The expense associated with maintaining and operating so many cameras is significant.
Many people center entire vacations around casino visits. Many vacationers must travel significant distances to reach a casino and thus, casinos frequently offer hotel accommodations, resort facilities, restaurants, and shopping, in addition to gaming. Visitors to Las Vegas spend an average of 4.3 days in Las Vegas and make, on average, only 1.9 trips there per year. Thus, vacationers have limited time to enjoy gaming.
People may spend weeks planning a vacation, often beginning far in advance of the vacation. Planning for a vacation builds excitement and anticipation. Planning also allows people to forego logistical and other mundane considerations during the limited time when they would rather be enjoying themselves. In addition, vacationers frequently go through the trouble of carrying photography and video equipment to capture images to remember their vacation.
What is needed are systems and methods to mitigate or eliminate the problems identified above.